Even when I was living in a very liberal area, there were only a small handful of stores that advertised as worker co-ops. It’s funny too because those co-op stores were all incredibly popular and successful, so I don’t understand why they are so comparatively rare? The organizational structure seems simple to maintain, and has a high incentive for regular workers to go above and beyond since they directly benefit from the business being successful, so what’s the deal? I am speaking from a US centric view, so maybe things are different in Europe, but even with my limited knowledge I feel like they are relatively unpopular there too, but maybe not? I dunno.
Not to mention the regulatory environment in many places is custom tailored towards traditional corporations, leaving co-ops with often unclear regulatory standing or significant material disadvantages compared to corporations. In effect, the state makes it easier to start a single or few owner business than they do a worker owned collective.
Can you give examples of this?